seesaw

a recreation in which two children alternately ride up and down while seated at opposite ends of a plank balanced at the middle.

2.

a plank or apparatus for this recreation.

3.

an up-and-down or a back-and-forth movement or procedure.

4.

Whist. a crossruff.

adjective

5.

moving up and down, back and forth, or alternately ahead and behind:

It was a seesaw game with the lead changing hands many times.

verb (used without object)

6.

to move in a seesaw manner:

The boat seesawed in the heavy sea.

7.

to ride or play on a seesaw.

8.

to keep changing one's decision, opinion, or attitude; vacillate.

verb (used with object)

9.

to cause to move in a seesaw manner.

Origin of seesaw

1630-1640

1630-40 as part of a jingle accompanying a children's game; gradational compound based on saw1

Regional variation note

Although seesaw (def. 2) is the most widely used term in the U.S., teetertotter is also in wide use in the Northern, North Midland, and Western regions. Tilting board and its variants tilt board and tiltering board are New Eng. terms, especially Eastern New Eng., while tinter and its variant teenter are associated with Western New Eng.